


A fire and a brave little guy

by Jeaven



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean Takes Care Of Sam, Fluffy, Hurt Sam Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Sam adopts a dog, Trials, also, and their effect on Sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5779918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jeaven/pseuds/Jeaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam saves a puppy from a burning house and adopts the little dog. Needless to say, Dean isn't thrilled. But when Sam's condition gets worse and their new pet is there for them both, Dean falls in love with the little guy too (though he wouldn't admit that, ever).</p>
            </blockquote>





	A fire and a brave little guy

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fluffy little one shot in which puppies are portrayed much more uncomplicated than they actually are. Enjoy.

**A fire and a brave little guy**

This damn hunt had never been his idea. He'd been against it from the very start. Sam was in no condition to even go for a walk, let alone fight a rougarou. The second trial had hit him harder than the first one, God knows why, but Sam was getting sicker by the day. And then his stupid little brother had found them a hunt. Because, why the hell not.   
And of course he had resented it at first, being the older one and all he had the right to get his veto in and cancel the whole thing. Damn Sam and his stupid arguments with his sad eyes and logical reasoning. So there was this man eating other people in a town just twenty miles away and _Dean, we just need to kill it, Dean there are people dying, you can't keep me trapped in here..._  
Sam went on and on for nearly an hour until Dean finally snapped and let Sam have his way. Under the condition that Dean get to torch the thing. Which meant Sam was only permitted to walk behind him and do exactly nothing. Not that he could have, anyway. He was too sick to go on a hunt, and this one proved Deans objections right.   
Sam had already put research into this, and so they knew who it was and where the thing lived. This was the part where Sam had sadly been right, they only had to kick the door down and set it on fire.  
Well, Dean kicked the door down, because Sam sure as hell didn't put much force into his kick.  
They knew from probably two hours of observation that it was home, and Dean had his flare gun ready. They only had one though, and thanks to that Sam had to walk behind him with a flashlight in his shaking hands.   
The thing was, the rougarou saw them first. They stepped into the living room only to be greeted by a snarling... something that was half a man and half a monster with claws and enormous teeth, attacking them. Dean ran backwards, sending Sam behind him stumbling back into the hallway. The rougarou snarled and leaped at Dean, who fired his flare gun off. It missed the creature and set the couch on fire instead, but Dean wasn't too sad about this, because the fire seemed to scare the monster. It shrieked and ran at the brothers again, but this time to get away from the fire, and not to hurt them. It was still pretty quick though, and Dean had to jump out of the way, it's claws barely missing him. He bumped against Sam, who let out a strange oumpff as he was practically pushed out of the way.   
The rougarou sprinted towards the door, but Dean was having none of that. He aimed with his flare gun and fired, two times hitting the curtains, but getting the monster on the third try. It wailed and whirled around to face him, the fire spreading slowly from its arm over to the chest and the whole body. It came running at Dean in his dying rage, setting the wooden doorway on fire on the way. Dean let it come in his direction, holding Sam, who'd made attempts to stand in front of him, out of the way. Just before it could attack the elder Winchester he jumped out of the way, and the surprised rougarou tumbled into the burning living room.   
It screamed and twisted helplessly, until the movements stopped and it dropped into the raging fire.   
"Fantastic" Dean muttered, in no way meaning it. "We gotta get out of here."  
And they really did. After accidentally setting the furniture on fire, this house was threatening to burn them with it if they didn't move soon.  
Sam blinked and only nodded. Dean grabbed his little brothers right arm to make sure he wouldn't fall behind and hurried out of the house.  
Sam was only with him for the first few steps. Then he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, broke free of Deans grip and ran into the fire.   
Dean was frozen for a second. What the hell was Sam doing? Had the trials fried his little brothers enormous brain, too?  
"Sammy!" he called, a bit panicked when Sam didn't respond. They really needed to get out of here.   
The smoke made his lungs burn and the heat caused his eyes to water when he shielded his face with his hands and followed Sam into the flames.  
He coughed and started running as fast as he could while avoiding the flames licking at his feet. "Sam!" he yelled again, this time louder. Fear made his heart race. What the fuck was his little brother thinking, running into the fire like that?  
Finally, he saw a gigantic figure moving towards him through the flames. Dean made the last fest steps, only gave himself the split of a second to look at Sam to make sure he wasn't burning or something before grabbing his shoulder tightly and pulled him out of the fire.  
He only stopped his pace when they stumbled into the cold, fresh air outside.   
Dean let go of Sam's jacket and turned around, furious.  
"What the hell, Sam?" he asked loudly. "Where you trying to kill yourself or what?"  
Sam just looked at him, clearly exhausted. "Dean" he said quietly, and held his hands up. Or rather, the small dog in his arms, shivering with fear and the fur black from the smoke.   
Dean stared at him. "You went back in there" he said slowly, "to rescue a freakin' dog?"  
Sam gave him the most hilarious sad expression. "Dean, it was in the living room. It would have died."  
And, fine, Dean didn't exactly want the small dog to die, but dammit, Sam could've burned in there as well. "You could've..." He trailed off, but Sam knew what he meant anyway.   
"I know" he said simply. "But I couldn't leave it there."  
Dean sighed and admitted defeat. "Okay then, we bring it to the next animal shelter and then get back to the bunker, what do you say?"  
Sam bit his lip, and looked at the dog as he pressed it tighter to his chest. "I don't want to give it away, Dean."  
Dean raised his eyebrows. "Come again?"  
"Dean, we finally have a home, a real one and I... I think we should keep it."  
Dean opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. So the trials really had mushed his little brothers brain. "Sam", he said plainly. "We're _not_ adopting a dog."  
Sam frowned. "Why not?" he asked, and Dean could tell his little brother meant it.   
"We've got no life for a dog, man!" he answered his brother. "The hunts and all the other stuff... Think of the trials."  
Sam put on a honest to god pout. "I am thinking about all that, Dean, and I think this little guy here will help us."  
And that was so Sam, finding hope or whatnot in a damn puppy. He held the little dog protectively with both hands, softly caressing its fur and smiling slightly, even though he was pale under all the soot on his skin. Dean rolled his eyes at that picture of his brother and the puppy that was practically craving for pity.  
He sighed. What the hell. "Okay fine. But you take care of that little infant, cause I ain't gonna do it."  
Sams smile enlightened his whole face. "Thanks, Dean!" He grinned down at his new pet.  
Dean shook his head, even though something inside him already knew Sam's newfound happiness was worth the annoying little fleabag. "Don't let it ruin the sheets!" he threatened before turning around and walking back to the Impala.   
Sam got into the seat next to him more carefully than Dean had ever seen him do that, and by the time his little brother had seated himself and the puppy Dean'd already started the motor.  
The dog tried to get rid of the black stuff on his fur, squirming around and trying to lick the soot of, obviously without success. Sam only laughed at it.   
Great, Dean thought. As it seemed, his brothers little pet was just as stupid as he was.  
"I think his name is Lucky" Sam told him a few minutes later, examining the dog's collar.  
Dean blinked and frowned while risking a look at the seat next to him. The dog had seemingly fallen to sleep, lying completely lax in Sam's lap.  
"Yeah", Dean said, not really caring about the name of the damn thing. Honestly, he was way more interested in why the rougarou hadn't eaten Lucky until now. "Whatever."  
They drive in silence after that, the dog completely silent in Sam's arms, and Sam himself just watching it quietly.   
When they were at the bunker, Sam tried to get out of the car without waking Lucky, which took forever, and in the end didn't even work. Halfway into standing up, Lucky woke with a start, apparently totally confused by his surroundings and tried to get away. Sam barely managed to hold onto him.  
"Jesus!", Sam breathed, startled. "It's all right, Lucky."  
Dean laughed at Sam, especially as he tried to close the door of the Impala while still comforting Lucky. Sam gave Dean a bitchface when he finally managed to do it.  
"I'm going to the bathroom first", he announced, sounding a little pissed off.  
Dean stared at him. "What? Why?"  
"Because Lucky needs to get the soot out of his fur", Sam said. "Before he gets to explore the bunker."  
"I hate you", Dean told the dog resentfully.  
Lucky made a pitiful noise and hid his face in Sam's coat.   
Dean rolled his eyes. "You two go have fun in the bathroom." He headed for the kitchen to grab himself a beer (or maybe something stronger), no doubt getting a bitchface from Sam at his back.

Sam had been sleeping fifteen hours a day for the last six days straight, never even leaving the bunker, his sickness practically tying him to bed or couch.  
It was seven in the morning, and Dean, still awake from the previous day, started making himself omelette. Only a few minutes later he heard footsteps behind him.   
He turned around and saw Sam standing in the doorway, the dog in his arms and fully dressed.  
Dean frowned at him. "What're you up to?"  
Sam shrugged. "I was just going to pick up a few things for Lucky. Mind if I take the Impala?"  
"Yeah", Dean answered him. "Yesterday I made an exception, but that'll be the only one. No dogs in the car!"  
Sam shrugged and set Lucky onto the floor, who looked up at him, confused. Dean noted that his short fur was some sort of light brown now, and standing there on the floor he about as big as a small cat.   
Sam suddenly grinned at Dean. "Okay then, you just keep an eye on him while I'm gone."  
Dean opened his mouth to protest, but Sam was already gone.  
He looked down at the little thing that was staring at him just as helplessly as he felt.  
Great. Just great.   
He proceeded to make himself breakfast, but quickly found out that cooking while being stared at with eyes that said _I'm starving_ wasn't fun.   
"Get lost, will you?" he hissed at Lucky, whose eyes got even more sad. Then he made it clear that he wouldn't leave the room any time soon by simply laying down on the cold floor.  
Dean glared at him, then finished his omelette and proceeded to eat it.   
And, well, if the dog got a bit of his food too, then it was only because Dean didn't want to waste anything.  
Sam came back about two hours later with so much dog stuff Dean wondered if he should check his brothers brain function, just to be sure he didn't come down with a type of mental disability.  
"Stop staring and help me!" Sam grumbled at him while trying to get all the stuff out of the Impala and into his room. "This stuff's heavy!"  
Dean snorted. "That ain't my problem, little brother."  
Sam glared at him and proceeded to carry the whole lot of things he'd bought into his room. Lucky looked at Dean wearily, then hurried past him and followed Sam down the hallway.  
Dean shook his head and left his brother to whatever had gotten into him.   
He himself had nothing to do for now, which was a nice change considering all the stress he'd been under since returning from purgatory. Even Sam seemed fine for a change, up on his feet and working, even if it was for the damn dog. Dean would take what he got.  
He saw Sam a few hours later, when he announced he was going for a walk with Lucky. Dean only shrugged and told him not to get lost or something.   
He spend the day surfing on the Internet and watching totally useless videos, then found a Friday the thirteenth marathon on tv and settled for that.   
He never even got to the third film.   
Heavy steps in the hall outside his room interrupted Jason's murder spree. Dean wondered for a second if the police had finally arrived to try and fail to take Jason down, but then he heard he heard a bark and knew, this wasn't in the movie.  
He didn't bother turning the tv off and went straight to the door and opened it. Lucky was standing in front of his room, barking at him.   
Dean rolled his eyes. "Don't come to me if you want any-" he stopped growling at the little dog when he saw what was going on.  
Sam was several steps behind the two of them, clutching a doorframe for support, and Dean could see his legs shaking. He was the one to make those heavy steps, and Dean cursed the stupid trials again, that made his little brother so incredibly sick.  
Lucky barked at him again, and Dean came out of his shock of seeing Sam so weak again. He hurried to his brothers side.  
"Sam," he said sternly. "Sam, can you walk?"  
Sam made a grimace. "I think so, yeah." It was accompanied by a small grunt. Out of pain or pure exhaustion, Dean couldn't tell.  
"Alright," he said as calmly as he could, while the screams of Jason's victims echoed out of his room. "Let's get you back to your room."  
Hesitatingly, Sam let go of the doorframe and held on to Dean instead, as they made their way down the hallway back to Sam's bed, where he collapsed immediately.  
Dean raised his eyebrows at his little brother. "You gonna take off your shoes before passing out?"  
Sam mumbled something into the mattress and got himself slowly to a sitting position.  
Dean watched as Sam untied his shoelaces with shaky hands and crouched down next to him.  
"What happened, Sammy?" he asked gently.  
His brother looked at him with tired eyes. "I dunno," he mumbled. "I was just walking and then I felt awful, like, out of nowhere."   
Dean frowned, and again, wished he could've taken down this hellhound instead of Sam. He was supposed to protect him, dammit. He should be feeling like this instead of Sam.  
"Dean, I'm fine," Sam protested, as of sensing Deans thoughts.   
He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, you look totally fine."  
Sam sighed. "I just need some rest and then it'll be good."  
Dean shook his head and stood up as Sam laid down again. He couldn't shake the feeling that the should be the one to tell Sam this, and not the other way round.  
Suddenly, Lucky was at his feet, unsuccessfully trying to get into the bed. Dean was about to tell him he would only ruin the sheets, but threw one look at Sam's sad expression, sighed and helped the little guy up.   
Sam smiled as he drifted off to sleep with Lucky next to him, and Dean had to admit, maybe the annoying little puppy really was good for Sam.   
As if to prove this point, Deans little brother slept peacefully till the next day, when he came stumbling into the library on shaky feet, making Dean, who was sitting at one of the tables, frown.  
"Dude, you okay?" he asked.  
Sam blinked for a couple of seconds. "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine," he said, which kind of seemed to be their code for _not really_ these days. "I'm just taking Lucky out."  
Dean turned his eyes off the computer and raised his eyebrows at Sam.   
"You seriously want to go out for a run again? 'Cause I hate to break it to you, but you still look like The Walking Dead."  
"Dean, I'm fine to go on a walk," Sam insisted stubbornly.   
"No you're not," Dean told him bluntly, because he was done with this crap, had been even before Sam got sicker after the second trial. "You're not going on an hour long walk."  
Sam started to protest, but Dean cut him off. "I'll go."  
Sam stared at him. "You what?"  
Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm taking the fleabag out, and stop that look, you're not going, no way."  
Sam tried to silently argue a few more minutes, then finally gave up and held the leash out to Dean.  
"Don't go too fast," he warned him quietly. "Let him set the pace and explore a bit of he wants but be careful with other dogs he might get in trouble with them and-"  
Dean held up a hand and cut his brother off. "Jesus, Sam, I'm not gonna kill him."  
Sam had the right share of doubt in his eyes, and Dean laughed at him.   
"Go take a shower or something," he told his little brother and snatched the leash out of Sam's hands. "You look beat."  
"You're... beat," Sam grumbled.  
Dean smirked, but that didn't hold on for long. To be precise, only until the entrance door to the bunker shut closed behind him and he was left alone with a dog that expected him to know what to do. Perfect.  
A little bit at loss, Dean started walking randomly to the right into the woods, and Lucky ran after him excitedly. Dean threw him irritated glances now and then; how on earth could one be enjoying a damn walk this much?  
The weather was good. A bit chilly, fresh air and the forest was quiet except for the birds.  
On a tree stump, he even allowed himself to rest, and not think about anything for a moment, only the annoying little puppy he was stuck with now, and who was looking at him impatiently, with a pleading look that matched Sam's perfectly.  
He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Yeah okay, here we go," he murmured, feeling incredibly silly as he picked up a stick and threw it a few meters behind the dog. Lucky seemed to be skeptical for a second, then went after it and brought it back to Dean, who feared to have to throw it again, but Lucky simply started chowing on it.  
Dean breathed out in relief. This had been easier than expected.  
A little bit later, he decided to follow their way back to the bunker, his steps light and full of energy, unlike they had been in a very long time.  
Lucky seemed to pick it up, he started walking faster and even pulling at the leash at some point, at which Dean held him back because this would've seriously become exhausting fast.  
Dean was unbelievably glad Lucky had left the remains of his previous food in the woods, because he had no idea what the hell we was supposed to do with dog poop on the street. And besides, that was definitely Sam's job.  
He entered the bunker again, quickly checked on Sam who was asleep again in his bed, a book by his side. Dean left him to it and went to watch some tv in his room.   
He found a half-decent action move and let it on, while his thoughts came back to the last couple of days, that really had taken an unexpected turn.   
There was nothing that even remotely suggested that Sam was getting better, and Dean hated himself for not being in his place, for letting him do this.   
Even worse, he was bound to watch Sam suffer and could do nothing about it. At least that's what he'd thought.  
And then this little puppy with the damn luck to escape a fire had come into their lives.   
Okay, that hadn't been Deans doing, but he didn't care as long as it helped Sam, and Lucky really did.   
Sam had been better, going shopping and leaving the bunker to walk the dog, all for the little guy.  
And Dean loved watching Sam being happy like this again.  
Of course, the affect of the trials wouldn't let his brother off the hook that easily, and Dean knew that. But there was something this dog had given them already, he didn't even want to deny it.  
He heard tiny footsteps entering his room through the open door and bent down to help Lucky up into the bed.   
The little one made a somewhat happy noise and stretched out across Deans lap.  
He snorted. "Don't you dare fall asleep on me; I wanna get up soon."  
Which wasn't really true, at least not anymore. Now he was perfectly content with watching the dog yawn and close his eyes.   
And when Lucky fell asleep, Dean followed him soon into the land of dreams with a smile on his face, which was how Sam found them later.


End file.
